


ice cream and sweets

by cvinal



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: 2nd year reikaos, Denial and Repression, EDIT: now with illustration!, Hurt/Attempted Comfort, M/M, Nipple Piercings, extremely stupid and horny teenage behavior, irresponsible use of a tattoo machine, motorcycle ride intimacy, trying ur best when ur lonely sad and gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:55:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27488434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cvinal/pseuds/cvinal
Summary: “Y’know, you’re a lot cuter without those stress lines. If you come over to my place later, I could take your mind off things with one of these.” Rei bounces his tattooed thigh to indicate. “Girls lo~ve a bad boy with ink.”Hakaze glances over his shoulder, gauging how serious Rei is before his eyes are magnetically drawn down to Rei’s thigh. “Girls will think it’s cool, even if it comes out as ugly as yours~? Well, maybe if the live house has really, really, great sales tonight, I’ll feel like it~”
Relationships: Hakaze Kaoru/Sakuma Rei
Comments: 9
Kudos: 48





	ice cream and sweets

**Author's Note:**

> thank you to:
> 
> ❥ mae again, for fixing my abysmal grammar  
> ❥ eden porn collective as a whole for being amazing writers and friends who always inspire me 🥺♥️  
> ❥ leo again, for being so encouraging and seriously the best person to share a braincell with  
> —  
> don’t do as rei does, please tattoo cute boys responsibly.

Rei cuts a hole in his tightest skinny jeans to show off his fresh ink. Not that his unseen effort matters, but the gruesome result of painfully needling himself for hours has to be gawked at. And there is gawking done that night. Much of it. A lot of it is done by his second shadow, that first year who looks ready to topple over from the weight of his guitar case. He’s weird, but he’s one more thing growing on Rei so quickly that it’s hard to prune.

More interestingly, when Rei widens his periphery, he notices Hakaze has stolen a look or a dozen, too. 

It starts in the backroom when he comes to drop off his shit. Hakaze is sitting at the ancient computer, chin propped up and eyes glazed as he scrolls through a spreadsheet. He looks pretty pissed, and Rei guesses that whatever is on the screen doesn’t match what’s on his mind. When the door slams behind Rei, Hakaze blinks at the tattoo a couple times, then turns back to the computer without a word. His jaw flexes. 

“Rough day at the office, sweetheart?” Rei unceremoniously drops his heavy backpack on the armchair in the corner, a dedicated spot for performers’ coats and bags.

“Gross, don’t call me something like that~ Pet names are only cute coming from a girl. You don’t have to bother me, I’m just balancing some numbers. I feel perfectly fine.” The way he taps the keyboard is a bit too defensive for Rei to believe him.

“C’mon, we know each other better than that, don’t we? I’m a good listener, tell me all about what’s bothering ya. We can’t have the place go to shit ‘coz you’re bottling everything up.” Sneaking up behind the computer chair, Rei grabs Hakaze’s hunched shoulders and starts massaging them. He only gets a few squeezes in before Hakaze shakes him off. 

“Stop it, I’m supposed to be working and you’re already late for the soundcheck. I’m not letting myself get distracted by you and talk about something I shouldn’t.”

Huh, pretty weird thing to say for a guy who’s _perfectly fine_ , but Hakaze has a point. Expectant eyes watched him enter the building. He ought to make sure they’re not messing up the stage for him. Hand on the doorknob, Rei half-turns to look at Hakaze. He still feels like teasing him more— it’s too easy when the guy has a sexuality crisis every time the wind blows his admittedly soft looking hair the wrong way. 

“Y’know, you’re a lot cuter without those stress lines. If you come over to my place later, I could take your mind off things with one of these.” Rei bounces his tattooed thigh to indicate. “Girls lo~ve a bad boy with ink.”

Hakaze glances over his shoulder, gauging how serious Rei is before his eyes are magnetically drawn down to Rei’s thigh. “Girls will think it’s cool, even if it comes out as ugly as yours~? Well, maybe if the live house has really, really, great sales tonight, I’ll feel like it~” Is all he says to Rei’s tattoo before he opens Minesweeper and chews the inside of his cheek. His carefree words are betrayed by the tense line of his shoulder blades. 

“Of course, of course~ Only if ya feel like it.” Rei cackles and twists the doorknob.

😈☠️🔪⛓🗡⚰️🩸

So, then what? He gives the live house a really, really, great night. His performance riles up the crowd in a roof shaking frenzy, and gravity seems more like a suggestion in this atmosphere. Red lasers cut through the hazy room rapid-fire while the stage lights strobe purple, kaleidoscoping his audience into one feral pulsating beast. Last week he, _ah,_ recommended that they replace the lights guy with someone who has _talent_ — Rei was so sick of the other guys bullshit. It’s a step up. There are plenty more steps for improvement, though. 

A song or three in, Hakaze slumps into a stool behind the counter and half heartedly watches the merch table. Rei doesn’t have all the time in the world to make googly eyes at him, but it’s funny that every time he checks if Hakaze is watching, he’s staring at the stage lights or emergency exit. Hakaze is usually too busy chatting up girls or upselling drinks to pay attention to the stage. Despite his slacker attitude, when Hakaze rolls up his sleeves he means it. 

And so the night's success can be attributed to a feedback loop kind of like this: he catches Hakaze staring -> Hakaze looks away -> he acts wilder to bring those moody eyes back -> the masses go berserk -> he catches Hakaze staring. 

Hakaze’s spot behind the sticky counter is vacant before his encore starts. The crowd tries to pull him back into their rhythm, but the absence seems a lot more interesting than his stage. Full of investigative energy, he bounces off like an astronaut towards the back of the building. 

His hard work creating the perfect atmosphere didn’t reach the dingy staff hallway. The commotion out front is reduced to vibrations in the concrete floor underneath his heavy boots, crowds cheers replaced with throat-shredding yelling locked behind the backroom door. 

Hakaze storms out of the room, the bellowing following him as he kicks the door shut like it’s his father’s face instead. Rei’s eyebrows shoot up, then back down before Hakaze turns and realizes he has a witness, stiffening. 

“Are you done already? With that crowd, I thought security would have to drag you away at dawn~ Thanks for the big profits as always~” Hakaze shrugs over to him and tries to play it cool. Rei might’ve been willing to believe it if he had only just walked into the scene. 

Hakaze looked stressed before. Now, he looks like a wreck. His hair is sort of frizzy, and his usually bright eyes are distantly panicked. His hands are balled in fists in his pockets, fabric shifting as he clenches and unclenches them. The sight is pulling at Rei’s withered heartstrings.

He opens his mouth, but Hakaze is already talking. “So, which train to your place?” 

Rei grins, pleasantly surprised. “Forget the train, y’know I’ve got a motorcycle. You can wear my helmet, not like I need it anyways.” He can get his bag tomorrow. he wants to ride this rebellious wind, too. 

Out of respect for privacy, he ignores Hakaze’s tremble for now. There’s time for needling later. 

Hakaze has to be babied into holding him on the motorcycle. Once he gets over it though, his arms tighten around Rei in trusting excitement as Rei revs the engine. He can’t see the troubled look on Hakaze’s face anymore due to the blackout visor, and he wants it gone next time the helmet is off. Burning rubber, he puts some distance between them and the godforsaken building. 

🩸😈☠️🗡⛓🔪💓⚰️

A few minutes from home, Rei sees the train crossing signal start to lower, and is just barely too far to beat it. Annoyed, Rei scoots the bike up to the crossing guard arm and looks down the tracks at the approaching train, sighing impatiently at the undeterminable length of the cars. 

“Looks like we’re gonna be here a minute. Sucks, we’re basically half a kilometer away. Don’t chicken out on me, okay?” He spins around in the seat, Hakaze sputtering and freezing with his hands still around Rei’s waist. He leans away too quickly, and Rei just _has_ to pin Hakaze’s thighs with his knees to stop him from falling. His gross khakis are windchill cold, but Rei presses harder and finds he can leech body heat from him. 

He grins and looks up when Hakaze squeaks but can only see his own face in the helmet visor, stretched and dyed into an unflattering shape and color. The grimy yellow streetlight deepens the shadows under his eyes and all the angles he’s always compensating for. Tipping his head back, Rei sees no stars, only light pollution. He swallows and tries to move on from being spooked by his own reflection. He’s relieved Hakaze took up his offer for more than one reason. In addition to being worried about what the guy would do on his own, Rei himself was only riding the energy of his audience. The high of performing so intensely only lasts about halfway home before raging self-doubt and numbing negativity starts pulsing like a virus through his bloodstream. It’s selfish of him, inviting Hakaze over to save himself from loneliness, but he reasons that he’s saving Hakaze just as much. He hopes. 

“You have nice quads, you a runner or something?” Rei mirrors him, leaning back and looking oh-so-relaxed and uninvested as he keeps the bike balanced underneath them.

“Swimmer,” Hakaze deadpans as he takes off the helmet. Flyaway hairs stick to his pink cheeks, and somehow he looks charmingly ruffled in the sick yellow light, unlike himself. Rei is relieved to see his lips are settled into their usual kissable pout now that they’re kilometers from the live house. He likes his Hakaze’s grumpy, not distraught. 

Since Hakaze is watching the train pass behind Rei, he admires how snug and squeezable and _biteable_ his legs look tucked around the body of Rei's thrumming motorcycle in peace. He notices some dirty violent scuffs on one of Hakaze’s knees and tries to remember if it was there before the show. He’s unable to come up with anything. 

The way Hakaze is watching the train cars is starting to be a little too distant, and he wants to bring the kid back down to earth before he floats out of the atmosphere. 

“So, what kinda tattoo do you want anyways? You even have a clue in that pretty head of yours?” Rei knocks a knuckle against Hakaze’s temple. Feathery hair brushes his hand, the loose strands illuminated like threads of pure sunlight. 

Hakaze shrugs, indifference rubbing Rei the wrong way. He barely knows anything about Hakaze’s hobbies outside of the live house to offer any suggestions. He swims. He buries his head in the sand. He stays at arms length. 

“What about my name in a big heart, right here?” He draws the romantic shape on Hakaze’s chest, hand quickly swatted away. 

“No way~ I’m not easy like you, sorry but you’ve gotta win me over first.” Sarcasm drips from his voice, but there’s a glint of challenge in his eye that fires Rei up. He twists a pebble into the asphalt with his heel.

“A motorcycle ride isn’t enough? Tough cookie, but I’ll bite.” Rei is happy to see the snarky side of Hakaze come back out to play— he doesn’t usually just go along with Rei, and that resistance is something he likes about him. If he wanted someone to smile and nod along, just about anyone else would’ve done.

The crossing guard arms start to rise behind them, so he plucks the helmet out of Hakaze’s lap and helpfully sticks it on over his helmet hair for him. On an impulse he probably shouldn’t follow, he kisses the visor while making a comical smooching noise. As Hakaze makes a gagging sound, Rei spins around in his spot, revving the engine since Hakaze gets such a kick out of it. He’s lucky Hakaze can’t see the wicked grin on his face when disgruntled arms nestle around him. 

🩸⚰️🗡😈⛓😈☠️🔪

Rei kinda wishes he cleaned his room more often. He kicks a jagged clear path between instrument cases and bags and leather and sheet music to his bed. Oops, he just launched his camera into one of the more remote areas of his mess. A problem for another time. Then, ‘coz he’s so considerate, he gives the blankets a little fluff as he makes the bed. 

“Well, c’mere, c’mere~ Don’t be shy~ If ya can’t tell, this is the only free space in my crypt~” Rei pats the bed insistently, then turns to rummage for his ink kit. Was it on his desk, or in the bedside table..?

“Somehow I’m not at all surprised that your room is like, a total disaster. Seriously, you live like this? When was the last time you cleaned it? And kicking stuff under your bed doesn’t count.” Hakaze remains in the doorway, arms crossed with a tight grip on his biceps. His eyes are darting around the room, unable to process all the chaos. He looks unimpressed. 

The box is shoved between his bed and the wall. Rei looks around like he can see what Hakaze sees, a little self conscious from just how judgmental Hakaze sounds. _Living_ is one way to put it. There’s too much packed in here haphazardly: his own projects as well as ones he’s doing for others, abandoned hobbies, dirty dishes, interesting junk from the side of the road, good and shitty CDs as well as much, much more is thrown across his room. He tore up his closet looking for his favorite fingerless gloves last week and just hasn’t had the energy, much less the time, to put it all away. Suddenly he remembers how clean Hakaze’s computer desk was in comparison to the rest of the backroom and wonders if he’s actually a tidy guy. That’s sort of endearing. 

“I’m in the middle of reorganizin’ my whole space, plus, nothin’ wrong with a little chaos~” Rei says as he clicks the latches of the tattoo kit open. 

He likes calling it a tattoo gun, but really the machine resembles a pen. It’s convenient for traveling, downside being that the vibration makes his wrist ache after too long. Unaware of what Hakaze has in mind, Rei can’t fully set it up yet. The ink and needle depend on his input. In the meantime, he lays out the color options.

“Uh, some of this disaster looks like it’s from the Cretaceous period, but whatever you say~ After we’re done, maybe I’ll find a dinosaur skull and take it home as proof I was here.” Finally stepping into the room, Hakaze laughs and rolls his eyes. It’s a pretty sound, even at his expense. 

“Pretty sure there’s a stegosaurus femur in that underwear pile yonder. I won’t say anything if you take a whiff while you’re at it.” Rei looks over his shoulder to catch Hakaze’s face scrunching up in disgust at the notion. He doesn’t bother hiding his shit-eating grin.

“Ew. Anyways, that’s from the Jurassic period. I’m looking for a protoceratops skeleton. Hey, that’s not like, pen ink right? I don’t want to get poisoned and hospitalized, that’d be so uncool.” Hakaze replies dryly, flopping onto the bed and observing Rei lay out his equipment with a critical scientific interest. 

“Since you don’t trust me, why not see for yourself?” Rei offers the bottle of ink for his inspection. “Hakaze-kun is preeeetty cute when he shows his nerdy side~”

He doesn’t immediately reply to Rei, occupied reading the label shrewdly. When it meets his standards, and Hakaze passes it back with a nod. 

“I just wanted to make sure. I don’t believe that vampire thing you have going on, but if it’s going _in_ me I want to double check that it’s safe for humans— Do you really think I’m cute? Sometimes I think girls say that just to get another drink. Wait, forget I asked.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Hakaze’s cheeks flush as he realizes what he just asked. Hiding, he folds his forearm over his eyes. Hakaze has to be caught off guard to flip over his shell and catch his sweet side. He’s such a prickly little asshole, he drags his feet and acts like showing up late is a blessing itself. Well— Rei isn’t much better at being on time, but he busts ass when he arrives. 

“Something tells me you’d be upset no matter if I said yes or no~ Let’s stick with ‘maybe’ and see where the night goes.” Rei flashes a smirk at him and Hakaze lifts his forearm to glare back, lips pressed into a flat line. So touchy. 

“Ahhh, that just pisses me off more~ I won’t be a baby if you tell me, seriously. I’m just curious.” The blush is starting to bloom on the tips of his ears, reminding Rei of one of his favorite type of roses. 

Rei doesn’t get nervous about being close to boys. However, this need to prove something to Hakaze has been stewing in him all night and is ready to boil over at the sight of him lounging on the duvet. They’re having a good time. Hakaze isn’t even complaining about being on a guy’s bed, he sat down willingly. He keeps glancing at Rei’s filthy bong, maybe they can smoke together and hang out ‘til sunrise talking. Rei has _so much stuff_ to do, but Hakaze is keeping his pulse going right now and he’s willing to scrape himself to the bone tomorrow so he can live tonight. 

“I’m all set up~ Ya thought about it more on the ride, right? What permanent mark am I puttin’ on you, and where?” Rei lets Hakaze’s fluster fester, instead gesturing with the tattoo gun for him to scoot up onto the bed a smidge more. 

When he does, Rei kneels on the bed next to Hakaze’s stretched out legs. He can’t quite tell what effect it has on Hakaze, but his cheeks are still pink. He crosses his ankles. 

“Ummm... not really, I was kinda distracted. How did you pick... that?” Hakaze is looking at his thigh again, this time using an analytical eye that Rei wants to shy away from. 

“This ol’ thing? There wasn’t a grand plan, really. I was just struck with some creativity and kept going ‘til I was bored~ What, you like the spontaneity?”

It’s easier to look at the tattoo than the way Hakaze is looking at it. His thigh is a hot mess. With nothing in mind except trying something new, he drew tombstones and hellhounds and storm clouds and vague, nightmarish shapes. 

“I guess, but yours is kinda...” Hakaze trails off, unsure of how to finish the sentence. He cocks his head, and Rei can tell Hakaze has made an accurate deduction that’s making him feel a lot more considerate than earlier. 

“What? You already called it ugly, feelin’ shy now?” He taunts, too interested in the answer. 

“Well...” Hakaze purses his lips, considering his words. “It’s ugly in the way where I kinda like it the more I look at it, y’know? At first I couldn’t decide if it was any good or just, y’know, you pulling something off that nobody else can like usual. But the parts I thought were bad are actually what give it its charm. Even if it’s like, super edgy~” 

Aww, Rei is touched. High praise from a five-feet-apart-in-the-hot-tub type. He points the tattoo gun at Hakaze’s face and starts it up, noise making Hakaze jump. 

“So you wanna leave your skin up to my whims? ‘m honored you trust me like that, Hakaze-kun~ Do me a solid and pick a spot to be my canvas~” He waves the gun at Hakaze like a weightless magic wand. Decision fatigue is starting to set in. 

“Uhh, the only place that y’know... he wouldn’t see is...” Hakaze touches the side of his ribcage cautiously, action secondary to watching the tattoo gun in Rei’s hand.

“That’s a pretty sensitive spot, but so be it. Would the client kindly lay down?” Rei fidgets with the extension cord, giving himself plenty of slack. 

This also has some kind of effect on Hakaze. Easing himself back onto his elbows, he tentatively lays down against the pillows. He’s stupidly demure looking in a way that makes Rei want to rip his clothes off and give him something to be so shy about. It makes the fact that he was dry humping that pillow _yesterday_ almost unbearable knowledge to withhold from Hakaze, just to see him sputter. If only Rei wasn’t so excited to see his reaction to the tattoo gun. The guy would probably launch himself out the window. 

Rei swings a leg over the horizontal Hakaze, knees bracketing his hips. He appreciates Hakaze stuttering a protest, but ignores it in favor of sliding his fingers up and under Hakaze’s T-shirt hem, feeling that the guy has nice abs. A second later, he’s looking at said abs. Still nice. 

“Stop, the way you’re doing it is kinda...” Hakaze grabs the material from Rei, pushing it back down all the way like that’ll undo Rei’s touch, then pulling it up to his desired resting place. It’s mean of him to keep his nipples covered, but Rei gets it. 

Rolling the tattoo gun in thought, Rei tries to find inspiration for the blank canvas below him. He wasn’t expecting Hakaze to leave it up to him, but in a way it’s not surprising that he wants to push the hard work onto someone else. He could give Hakaze a lesson. Mark his skin permanently with something so embarrassing he never takes his shirt off for a girl, but he knows that Hakaze would learn to never trust again when the intended one is to get what he wants out of life. 

It’s hard to think straight about anything when Hakaze is so tan and patiently alive for him. That hint of rose is fully settled in his cheeks. Rei prefers getting his vitamin D secondhand, and Hakaze’s skin is a perfect supplement, permanently warm from spending so much time in the sun. Hakaze is squirmy and breathes a lot, and it hopefully won’t be a problem during the main event. 

“Don’t move— unless ya change your mind.” Rei reassuringly pats Hakaze’s stomach, slipping off to find a nature encyclopedia. When he finds one under a clarinet case, he lets it fall open in his hand and flips a few pages on his way back to the bed.

“I’m not a desk.” Hakaze huffs when Rei spreads the book on his chest.

“Too bad, you’d make a good one. Girls love flowers, what about some roses? I can add some pool noodles, too, since you’re a swimmer and all.” Rei taps a glossy full color photo. “I don’t have all these colors, though.”

“No to the pool noodle, you’d make it weird somehow. That smile proves my point. Roses, though... yeah, it suits my vibe, doesn’t it?” Hakaze has a flattering double chin from angling himself to look at the picture.

“It does. Let me know if you can’t handle the pain, alright?” Wicked and unreadable, Rei grins at Hakaze. 

Humming a happy little tune, he sets the encyclopedia to the side and finds a ballpoint pen in the kit case. Eyes flicking from book to flesh and blood, he loosely draws some outlines, already knowing he’s going to stray from them. Hakaze is a kid who can handle it when things don’t go perfectly according to plan. He might prefer it, like Rei. The way Hakaze’s skin bends under his pen tip is inspiring, and he starts leaning into it. The roses aren’t trying to be realistic anymore, petals stretching and rippling out like ocean waves. He catches himself before it becomes honestly romantic. He flips the encyclopedia back shut, putting the pen on it’s cover with finality.

Something in the room changes, and opening his mouth feels like a wrong move now. Silence builds anticipation. Hakaze uses the front facing camera on his phone to check out Rei’s design as he turns to the open kit and selects the right needle for his job. He makes an approving noise, pocketing the cursed device and lacing his fingers behind his head. 

Rei takes his time bringing the loaded gun close to Hakaze’s skin, starting it up a few centimeters away. Hakaze’s breath hitches over the whirring noise, and Rei steals one more glance at his dinner plate eyes before focusing. It’s permanent, after all. 

Without further ado, Rei deflowers him. 

His flesh splits open so perfectly for Rei. Depositing jet black ink, or another color if Hakaze is picky, under the surface of Hakaze’s skin is an opportunity he immediately hopes to have again in the future. Hakaze’s breath hitches with commitment this time, stiffening at the pain then relaxing into it. It’s like Rei actually is wielding a magic wand, all of Hakaze’s nervous fidgeting dissolves. 

Buzzing is the only noise in the room. The lull in conversation is comfortable. He keeps needling away Hakaze’s stress and anxieties and woes, live house backroom at least a thousand sensations away from his mind. He brings the unfolding piece to life much like the live house, conducting vibrations so alluring everything else fades out. The kid is tougher than he expected. Hakaze winces and fists the bedsheets next to Rei’s leg a few times, but never asks for a breather or says stop. In action, the unpredictability of the rise and fall of his breathing chest doesn’t get in the way of Rei’s artistic vision, instead sort of adding to it for an interesting twist. There’s a nice harmony between his steady hand and Hakaze’s liveliness. 

And before long he starts being harsher with the gun than necessary, but only ‘coz Hakaze starts reacting differently to it. Like, horny little gasps of pain. The needle finds a tender gap between his ribs. Maybe Rei is going overboard— somehow he manages to draw blood. It’s only a little, but it wells up like a bead until surface tension breaks and it follows the curve of Hakaze’s side. His concern is overpowered by how Hakaze grips Rei’s thighs like they’re his only anchor. 

“Mmm, thanks for the treat~” Rei’s thumb catches the droplet before it runs any further, and that really gets Hakaze’s attention. 

Their eyes meet, his seductive and Hakaze’s blown wide open, as he licks it up. Hakaze’s fingernails dig into his thighs. The _please kiss me_ look on his face is familiar to Rei— he’s used to getting looks like this, but it’s yearning and pathetic in a way that makes him actually feel like doing something about it.

Rei tries to kiss him but Hakaze turns his head, redirecting Rei to his neck instead. It’s easy to improvise with this kind of material. He ghosts his lips and a warm sigh over Hakaze’s neck, who shudders underneath Rei, making a breathy drawn out noise that sounds both desperate and satisfied. The scale tips towards desperation when Rei drags his incisors along the tendon in his neck. Rei drags his fangs down the soft underside of Hakaze’s chin, eliciting a sharp inhale from his friend. Kissing and biting and sucking along Hakaze’s neck is sort of like picking up a new instrument. 

Nervous fingers skate around Rei's thigh, catching on his open tattoo for a second, but Rei has Hakaze too distracted to notice. The twinge of pain makes him whine around Hakaze’s Adam's apple, body buckling as he latches onto Hakaze with sharp teeth and scrabbling hands. Hakaze takes a gulp of air and arches his back, bodies connecting and sharing a flash of body heat that soothes Rei’s senses like fresh air. Careful to avoid the inked side, Rei runs his nails down his side like keys on the piano.

“He~y, don’t do that, I’m ticklish.” Giggling while trying to look serious, Hakaze’s chest thumps against his.

They’re eye to eye for a second. The upclose realization that Hakaze is really captivating when he smiles forms like an unhealthily sappy lump in his throat. The kid is far from the shell he was a couple hours ago, but he still seems wary and Rei isn’t trying to scare him away. It was hard enough getting him here. Finishing the stanza, he uses his hand to tug Hakaze’s ponytail free instead. He gets a huff in response but Hakaze remains easily pinned underneath him. The moment feels right so Rei tries to kiss him again. Hakaze turns the other cheek at the last second. Rei mournfully licks the sparse stubble across his jawline instead. He doesn’t know what Hakaze’s mouth taste like. Rei presses his clothed chest against him in a long stretch to feel how awkwardly their bodies bump against each other. 

“Fuck- your nipples are pierced? You’re a guy, but that’s kind of-“ Hakaze groans. 

_Hot,_ is how Rei hopes he was going to finish, but Hakaze clams up. It’s kind of a pointless effort with his hands roaming eagerly over Rei’s thighs again, but whatever makes him happy. 

“They are, y’ready to see?” Rei laughs in his ear when he feels Hakaze actually nod in response. He sits up, one hand wrapped underneath the half-done tattoo for support. 

To hide his nerves, he makes a show of peeling off his shirt and dropping it on the clothing pile next to his bed. He shakes his hair out, rolls his shoulders, and sighs like he strained himself and needs Hakaze to comfort him. A hand previously groping Rei’s thigh jerks up for a moment and his heartbeat twitches just as erratically. Kaoru Hakaze barely makes eye contact with other boys, but his eyes are glued to the little silver barbells on Rei’s chest. Shining just as brightly, too. Rei is pretty sure the guy hasn’t breathed in a minute.

“You can do more than stare, here, touch ‘em~” Rei picks up one of Hakaze’s wet fish hands and guides it to his nipple. 

“Oh, okay, cool.” Hakaze’s breath comes out all at once in an uncontrolled and jittery puff. 

When his fingers are securely on Rei’s nipple, he leans in to approvingly take care of Hakaze’s neck again. It’s a lot of fun to nuzzle into his hairline, sweet for a moment to make the act of biting a lock of hair and yanking all the spicier. Hakaze’s other hand shoots up, part of a full body roll reaction, his fingers fluttering to find a second nipple. When successful, the swipes across Rei’s bud are frustratingly light no matter how he bites and licks and claws. 

He opens his mouth to tease Hakaze about not knowing what to do, definitely _not_ beg him to go harder, that’s definitely not it. Words turn into nothing when Hakaze is bold enough to drag his well-manicured nails down his chest, catching the barbells when he reaches them and tugging too hard. Gratification jolts through his nervous system, moan petering off into little rapid-fire grateful wet kisses near Hakaze’s ear. Hakaze is good at anything when he tries. 

Rei keeps playing hot-and-cold with the rest of Hakaze, revisiting spots with his teeth that make Hakaze pinch his chest sharply and cry out. His fingers card through Hakaze’s hair obsessively. Hakaze doesn’t seem to mind the fixation, soft noises percolating out of his mouth and floating up to the ceiling. His weird, cute throaty noises fill Rei’s head like cotton. Rei is breathing too heavily now to do anything but alternatively drag his fangs and pierced tongue along Hakaze’s collar bone, finding a crashing rhythm in how they move together. Hakaze’s skin is so taut and salty-sweet and pliant underneath his ministrations, the permanently half-packed suitcase in his trashed room melts from Rei’s peripheral consciousness.

He flicks the button on Hakaze’s ugly khaki slacks open and just like that, the energy in his room is gone. Hakaze’s panicked hands clamber to halt Rei— he doesn’t say anything, only looks up at him like Rei just made an attempt on his life. 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. What do you wanna do, Hakaze-kun? Usually I know everything, but I need your help with this one.” Rei drops his grip, stunned by the intensity of Hakaze’s freaked out expression, like when Ritsu wakes up from a particularly bad nightmare. Daymare?

The conflicted expression racing in Hakaze’s eyes bores into him, intentions and needs locked behind his hazel grey irises. Trying anything he can to help, one of his hands shoots out to stroke Hakaze’s very mussed hair back into place. Hakaze regretfully shuts his eyes as he leans into the touch— it seems like a weak spot of his. He opens then closes his mouth, deciding to keep it to himself. Tense seconds pass, and he aches when he feels Hakaze stiffen under his weight. 

“I didn’t want any of this, you’re taking whatever you want from me. I’m supposed to be getting a tattoo I don’t even care about.” Hakaze says bitterly to the ceiling. 

Poison and betrayal swells up in him faster than he can handle, and Rei has to turn all his jagged edges inwards before he cuts the poor kid. His digits curl gently into the baby hairs on Hakaze’s nape and in the back of his mind, he hopes Hakaze keeps growing it out. It’s really, really cute. 

“Don’t blame all of this on me, I’m not forcing ya to be here. I was havin’ a pretty fun night, and since I caught you staring so much, I was under the impression the feeling was mutual. If I’ve just been taking advantage of ya, I’ll be pretty sad to hear it. Might cry, even. I gave you plenty of exits and you didn’t take any of them. You would’ve left on your own even if I tried to keep you, right? You’re a smart, crafty kid like that.” Rei looks purposefully down at the unfinished tattoo, skin red and raised. “You’re going thru a lotta pain right now for something that apparently doesn’t even matter to you. That’s not really your style, is it? When you get to the end of your life and nothing in the world mattered to you, what was the point of it all?” 

Hakaze glares at Rei like if he does it hard enough, Rei will snap his fingers and take the whole night back. Rei runs his fingers through one more lock. 

“That’s some lecture, but y’know, I don’t need you of all people telling me something like that. There are plenty of people begging for your wisdom, and I’m not one of them~” Hakaze laughs coldly, mouth twisted downwards as he squirms away and rolls off the bed with very little dignity. 

The corners of his room narrow and darken around them, the light reflecting off Hakaze’s sandy bangs irritating instead of alluring to him now. He dumps an ice bucket onto the fantasy of being a teenager with Hakaze. It was so unbelievably childish. 

The ink on Hakaze’s ribcage seeps through his shirt as he fumbles to adjust it, and panicked scenarios of Hakaze getting an infection and fucking _dying_ because of him ring in Rei’s head. 

“It’s not finished—“ He reaches out after Hakaze, tripping over the bullshit on his floor to try and reach him. 

“I really, _really_ , don’t fucking care.” Hakaze’s voice stings with feigned indifference, paralyzing Rei where he’s knee deep in junk.

His bedroom door slams, Hakaze having no courtesy to respect that his parents probably just went to bed. He really doesn’t want to care if Hakaze gets home safe, but like everything else in his life, he doesn’t have much say in the matter.

Rei turns the overhead light back off, numb coldness setting in around the same time. He stands with his finger on the rarely used light switch, technically staring at the door but not registering it. He does very little else.

When the front door slams, his cadaver is compelled to peek through his curtains to watch Hakaze leave. His shoulders are slumped forward, and the way he’s walking makes it look like his shoes weigh a ton; every step an effort. When he gets to the end of the street, he turns around and stares at Rei’s house. Rei knows that Hakaze can’t see him in the window from there, but he feels the weight of his gaze anyways. 

He rubs his nipple. It’s kinda sore.

**Author's Note:**

> this was gonna be like.. 1.5k. and then it wasn’t. i started this the night before reikao week started, sorry. let’s call it fashionably late?
> 
> thank u for the warm reception to my last fic 😖😳 everyones support is so deeply appreciated!! i will continue dumping toxic waste into the reikao tag!!
> 
> i sorta wrote this with the idea that it takes place in the same timeline as my first fic, but if u don’t want the two to be connected, they’re not. whichever u prefer is canon! ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ 
> 
> title is from escape artist by the zolas.
> 
> i’m @K0GABALL on twitter hit me up if u have reikao brainrot!! peace out


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